Part Twenty-six

Part Twenty-six

Translator: Trespasserby (proofread by Arcedemius; C/E edited by lucathia)

Walking to the palace gates, when nearly all of the daughters of noble houses were coming by carriage, Meng looked very strange on foot. In addition, such an elegantly dressed girl carrying a sword on her back made it even more bizarre. However, what was even stranger was that no one was alarmed by the sword. Even the guards at the entrance didn’t ask Meng any questions about it and allowed her to enter.

“Walking here? That would make a gown filthy, especially one in Prince Edward’s favorite pure white.”

That voice sounded slightly familiar. Meng looked in its direction suspiciously. As expected, it was someone they had met previously, Duke Biggs’s daughter, Marisa. The dress she was wearing was very familiar too. It was the one Sword Spirit had immediately taken a liking to. The mermaid-style skirt worn on her tall figure emphasized her beautiful curves. Her entire person was gorgeous beyond compare.

“A peacock wearing white is still a peacock,” Sword Spirit said offhandedly.

Meng couldn’t help letting a laugh escape. This made Marisa very unhappy. She had mocked Meng, but hearing that laugh, she felt like she was the one being mocked instead.

However, as soon as Marisa turned her head, she saw the dazzling, brilliant Prince Edward walking in their direction. She stopped paying attention to Meng next to her and immediately revealed her most classic, refined smile. But she couldn’t keep her eyes from gleaming with desire. Ah, that shining, perfect prince…

“Meng, you came.” Edward strode over at an elegant pace, but greeted Meng first.

Meng looked Edward up and down. Today, he was wearing a dark blue, military uniform-style outfit, but it had simple lines and no medals. Meng sincerely praised, “This outfit really suits you well. You look very handsome.”

Edward grinned. He was able to tell that Meng was sincerely complimenting him and didn’t have any other intentions.

“Your Highness, Prince Edward, Marisa is delighted to see you again.”

As Marisa gracefully curtsied, her face held a smile that was perfectly flawless no matter the angle it was viewed at.

Edward smiled and returned the courtesy, “I’m honored to have met you again, my lady.”

Marisa seemed ecstatic that Edward had responded so politely, but Meng was mentally shaking her head. She knew that regardless of who he was addressing, Edward was always this polite. Earlier, it had taken Edward a full half month to learn to stop adding the word “miss” to Meng’s name.

Marisa had an expression of bashfulness, hoping that the prince might invite her to dance, or perhaps to go somewhere among the flowers under the moon…

“May I have the honor of dancing with you?” Edward elegantly bowed, with his hand extended, awaiting the lady’s answer. However, this lady was not Marisa.

Meng smiled while glancing a little worriedly at Marisa’s stiff countenance. But she still placed her hand upon Edward’s palm.

As Edward led Meng to the dance floor, he asked, “Did the guards trouble you? I told them not to bother you about your sword…”

Meng suddenly understood. “So it was like that. I really have to thank you…”

The two of them walked farther until they reached the center of the dance floor. Meng used the dance steps she had managed to learn in just over a month to dance along with Edward. The two people appeared very natural. There wasn’t a trace of forced atmosphere between them.

But there were two people who were very displeased. One of them was Sword Spirit. He had just been persuading Meng to come, but right now, seeing Meng happily dancing with Edward, he was really unhappy. In particular, as they slowly danced, Bai Xue Chen’s predictions were being fulfilled. Edward and Meng dancing close together put Sword Spirit in a bad mood. Edward putting his hand on Meng’s waist put Sword Spirit in a bad mood. Edward whispering close to Meng’s ear put Sword Spirit in a bad mood.

To sum it up in one sentence, he was in an extremely bad mood!

“Could we go to the flower garden for a stroll?” Edward offered.

“Hm?” Meng was somewhat unsure of what to do. Her eyes kept drifting to Sword Spirit.

Sword Spirit had long since been filled with anger, and he said almost harshly, “If you want to go, just go. You better give me to someone else to hold because I don’t want to be a third wheel.”

Hearing Sword Spirit’s reply, Meng’s face sank. “Oh. I understand.” After she finished speaking, she really did entrust Sword Spirit to a guard off to the side and went with Edward to the flower garden.

That bitch! At that moment, Sword Spirit was furious enough to spit fire.

“Give the sword to me.” A girl’s voice sounded, filled with rage and jealousy.

Sword Spirit turned to look. Peacock girl? He frowned. What does the peacock girl want with me?

The guard seemed to be in a dilemma. But he also knew that the woman in front of him was the daughter of a duke, and he did not dare to disobey her. The guard cautiously replied, “Lady Marisa, this is a sword someone else entrusted to me. If you would like a sword, you may go to the armory…”

“I want this sword!” Marisa fiercely shouted.

“But…”

“Give the sword to her.”

The guard looked back. The person who had spoken was Duke Biggs. This was someone the guard dared not defy. He turned the sword over to Marisa. Sword Spirit was shocked. He cried out, “What do you want… Mmph…” He was unable to finish speaking; his mouth had been covered by Marisa.

Duke Biggs sent away the guard and said to Marisa, “I will later distract the prince. You use the sword to distract the girl. It would be best if you had her locked away in the dungeons. The prince will not go there.”

“Mmph… Meng… Mmmmph!” Sword Spirit heard and struggled even more desperately, but with only a mouth and eyes, he was completely powerless.